But Joelle Casteix of the activist group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said he should not be involved in the conclave.

"It's a total slap in the face to victims to think he can cover up 25 years of child sex abuse and then go prancing off to Rome like a prince of the church," she said.

Roger Mahony is one of 117 cardinals under the age of 80 called to the Vatican to vote for the next pope following Benedict XVI's surprise announcement last week that he was abdicating because of ill-health.

Sex abuse by priests around the world was one of the defining issues of Benedict's eight-year reign.

The whiff of scandal involving Cardinal Mahony and a separate case involving Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien is overshadowing the transition period to the next papacy, the BBC's David Willey in Rome says.

On Saturday the Vatican criticised the media for reporting "misinformation" about alleged intrigue and corruption in the church.